Arcuri supports 2 bills

Friday

Jun 27, 2008 at 12:01 AMJun 27, 2008 at 11:48 AM

Arcuri votes to reduce public transit fares and drilling bills.

Arcuri votes to reduce public transit fares
U.S. Rep. Michael A. Arcuri, D-Utica, supported legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives to reduce public transit fares in cities such as Utica and Auburn, as well as rural areas across Upstate New York.

The Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act would provide $1.7 billion in grants to mass transit authorities over the next two years to reduce public transit fares and give consumers a cost-effective alternative to paying for gas.

Funding authorized for Utica and Rome and all of Oneida and Herkimer Counties totals $533,724.

Transit agencies are currently paying 44 percent more than they did last year for diesel fuel. Almost half of bus operators and more than two-thirds of rail operators have increased fares and about one-fifth are cutting services. The legislation passed would provide the funding necessary to reverse that trend.

Public transportation provides an affordable alternative to driving, saving the average household $6,251 every year, and reduces carbon dioxide emissions by more than 4,800 pounds per year per person.

Drilling bill
Arcuri voted for legislation he co-sponsored to increase domestic oil supply and reduce gas prices by forcing oil companies to drill on the millions of currently unproductive acres of land already leased for oil production.

But due to Republican opposition, the Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act did not pass the House, according to Arcuri’s office.

The bill would have prohibited oil companies from obtaining additional leases unless they could demonstrate they are producing oil and gas, or are diligently developing the leases they already hold. Similar rules already apply to coal companies, making sure coal is produced on existing leases.

Currently, there are 68 million acres onshore and offshore in the United States that are leased by oil companies and are fully open to drilling but not yet developed, according to Arcuri’s office

These lands contain 81 percent of America’s federal oil and gas reserves. If oil companies tapped these 68 million acres of leased land, they could generate an estimated 4.8 million barrels of oil a day and 44.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas each day, according to Arcuri’s office.